Melanie Ogden | Transport for London
I am a Chartered Civil Engineer and “Project Manager for Tunnels and Shafts” on the prestigious £1bn Northern Line Extension project in the heart of the capital. All eyes are upon us, as this is a project spanning three borough councils, uniquely funded and employing some of the latest technologies available to deliver value to the public purse.
It is my role to ensure the steady and successful progress of the project, and whilst that requires technical knowledge, the key skill is to actively manage the stakeholder interface with project’s many third parties. These include the Battersea Power Station Developers, Network Rail and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home – plus our project delivery partners who have a large and mature project management architecture of their own. To achieve this, I lead a talented multi-disciplinary team of Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Planners, Graduates and other key stakeholders.
I am responsible for the design and construction of 3.2km of twin-bored and SCL tunnels and shafts. I also have responsibility for the £40m design and build work package for two new step plate junctions and four new cross passages at Kennington Station, connecting the new extension to the existing Northern line railway and managing the subsequent increase in passenger flows through the station. I act as the seamless link between railways systems engineering, mechanical engineering and civil engineering for these works, ensuring all aspects have been considered from design through to operation and maintenance. I am responsible for establishing an acceptable closure strategy to undertake the work, balancing the needs of the project with those of the travelling public. I have consulted with stakeholders throughout the business alongside the Principal Contractor and project team to establish the most effective way of completing this. It is my options paper which has been presented to the business.
As a young woman who has come from a small town in the country to work in Engineering in our incredible city, I am inspired every day by engineering around me which most people take for granted and the fantastic engineers with whom I have the privilege of working every single day. My passion and enthusiasm for the built environment means that I have always wanted to get out from behind my desk and see society transformed – and I feel that is a much more tangible and inspiring message for young people considering engineering.
I try to live my life with integrity and make the best decisions for my project within my professional abilities. I am keen to show young women and men that they have a world of choices open to them in engineering, that there are many routes into the industry and that their dreams can be fulfilled. I had a relatively tough start to my time in senior school and struggled academically, not always getting the best grades, but sheer determination has brought me ample success and the respect of my peers.
I love speaking in public and I love seeing children’s faces light up when I explain the possibilities offered by an engineering career: a career where you have freedom, the chance to work internationally, to join fantastic professional teams which feel like your family and to leave a built legacy which you would be proud to show your grandchildren.
My passion for my trade shines through in all I do, including the work I have done this year as an IET ambassador for their ‘Engineer a Better World’ campaign. This included giving media interviews, something I absolutely love. Equally, I am not afraid to let my professional mask drop in the name of engineering, appearing in the ICE “Engineering Happiness” film dancing under the Hammersmith Flyover, (one of my first projects after graduation).
I want children to see engineering as an enjoyable career with plenty of support: I always tell children that going to work is like visiting my second family. In my first year in London, I mentored a young student; this experience taught me so much, in particular that younger people often just need the confidence to tackle a profession; confidence which may not exist in the family home. I want to be the person who bridges that gap and inspires them into our profession.
Sarah Gerken | Willis
I have been in the insurance industry for over three and a half years, joining the Willis graduate scheme after my degree in European Studies and Spanish at the University of Manchester. I began my career as a kidnap-for-ransom broker, transitioning to work on some of the most prestigious accounts at Willis after 18 months. I speak fluent Spanish as I have lived in Chile, Cuba, Spain and Colombia. My hobbies include surfing, bouldering and yoga and I have a green belt in kung fu.
Gemma Lodge ǀ DLA Piper
With tremendous hard work and talent, Gemma has built a career for herself in the Real Estate team at DLA Piper and is now a highly regarded associate in the London-office.
When Gemma first joined DLA Piper as an office assistant almost 19 years ago she had no inkling as to the opportunities that might lie ahead. After some challenging periods early in life - including a brief spell in local authority care - before leaving home at 16, Gemma admits that it just did not occur to her that a career in such a highly regarded profession as the law would be open to her.
After years of combining full-time work as a legal assistant with part-time study, she proudly qualified as a legal executive (in 2007) before re-qualifying as a solicitor in 2011. Gemma handles a wide range of commercial property transactions, primarily dealing with sales and purchases for institutional investors and high-value commercial lettings.
Gemma is keen to use her personal experiences to help champion the talents of others who have never even considered a career in law or who might have disregarded traditional routes to qualification due to the financial burden and risk involved. She is convinced that the ability to "learn while you earn" is the key to improving diversity in the workplace.
Gemma says "Hard work and determination aside, the only reason I am where I now am is because a woman I whole-heartedly respected in her professional capacity as a senior partner at DLA Piper took me aside one day and told me one day that I could. I can only hope to encourage others in the same fashion".
Alice Powell ǀ Alice Powell Racing
Alice started karting when she was 8 years old and has been a motorsport fan all her life. At 22 years old, she has had some stand out career highlights, which include becoming the first ever female to win the Formula Renault BARC UK Championship. She is the first and only female to get in the points in the GP3 Series and last year, she was Champion in the Formula Renault Asia Championship. Alice is also a BRDC Rising Star, which means she is part of the prestigious British Racing Drivers Club. As well as this, she is also an Athlete Supporter for the Women Sports Trust, promoting women’s sport and raising awareness.
This year, Alice is running an all-female kart team in the Formula Kart Stars Championship, which is supported by Bernie Ecclestone. As well as this, Alice is coaching other young female kart racers.
Her racing highlight for the year so far was racing in the 24hr Silverstone with Aston Martin, alongside their CEO, Andy Palmer.
Alice works hard to get females into Motorsport, and to coach and help guide them to their
Tamara Cizeika ǀ Allen & Overy
Tamara specialises in general regulatory issues in the financial services industry, advising firms on UK and EU regulatory requirements and drafting and negotiating UK and international agreements.
Tamara is an active contributor to industry issues, publishing an independent report in 2011 for TISA, and being the main author of a 2013 white paper for the Investment Association on outsourcing and the “too big to fail” issue. She sits on a number of industry working groups (including AIMA working groups on custodians/depositaries and on research/dealing commission and Investment Association working groups on key industry issues and social media). She regularly speaks at industry seminars, and recently hosted a thought leadership event with the Chief Economist of the Bank of England.
Tamara began her career at a regulator, working for the general counsel of the financial services regulator in Australia. She has also been a trustee of an arts charity (www.painesplough.com) for more than 10 years. Its goal is to find the next generation of great English playwrights and do “more plays, more places, more often”, reaching communities that otherwise don’t get a chance to see the arts. It recently celebrated its 40th year with its most ambitious programme yet, touring 12 productions to 54 places with 5 star reviews. It has also built a “pop up” theatre in the round that can be entirely “flat packed”, raising £350,000 and wining ‘Theatre Building of the Year’ at The Stage Awards.
Sascha Grimm ǀ Cooley
Sascha Grimm is an associate solicitor at the London office of Cooley, sitting in the commercial litigation department. Sascha is also the Chair of a women’s legal network called Women In Law London (WILL), which aims to tackle the poor retention rate of women in law.
Having always been passionate about diversity within the legal profession, Sascha became involved early on in her previous firm’s internal women’s group. This experience made her appreciate the complexity of the issues behind the huge loss of female talent in the legal profession and she became determined to be part of the movement to drive change.
At the end of 2013, after unsuccessfully trying to find an external women’s network focused on associate-level women (the very demographic leaving the profession), Sascha pulled together a group of lawyers and together they set up WILL – a young, dynamic, grassroots network aimed at pre-partnership and senior management female lawyers in London.
WILL launched online in July 2014, with the official launch event in October 2014. Since then WILL has acquired over 1,700 members representing more than 350 different law firms and companies in London. WILL holds frequent events and has set up a number of initiatives, working with members as well as with firms and companies directly, to drive positive change in the legal profession.
Sascha is extremely passionate about encouraging law firms and companies to invest in and pull up their female talent. She is an energetic and committed Chair of WILL, balancing this role with her day job, as well as sitting on her current firm’s internal Women’s Initiative. She regularly speaks at public events about women in law and also sits on the Executive Committee of the Equal Justices Initiative, which promotes greater diversity within the Judiciary.
Jacqui Quigley | LinkedIn Emea
I am a Senior Administrative Assistant for 3 Directors at LinkedIn EMEA Head Quarters in Dublin, delighted to be diving headfirst into my new role and meeting new people. My years of experience varies from roles such as Executive Assistant to Event/Project management. I am also an executive committee member the newly established Association of Professional Administrators in Ireland. I won the pa-assist’s 2014 All-Ireland PA of the Year. Since winning the award, I have been involved in public speaking engagements in Ireland and UK, blog writing and being runner up in some other awards. I moved to Dublin, from a small town, in 2001 for college and haven't looked back since, apart from a short stint in the UK where I completed my degree in Media and Communication. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world, Dublin is an amazingly vibrant energetic city, where you meet new friends on a daily basis. I have a keen (if not unnatural) interest in all things social media and hope to develop my role in this area going forward. Outside of work, I love reading and movies. I used to do some boxing but I found exercise was just too good for me even though I find it really enjoyable.
Debbie Grimshaw ǀ Brother UK
My name is Debbie Grimshaw and I am Executive Assistant to Phil Jones, Managing Director of Brother UK, the Information, Communication and Technology Company.
During a 25-year career with the business, I have provided EA and PA support to the senior leadership team at Brother UK and Brother International Europe. In my current role, I manage the complex and demanding diary of Phil Jones, one of the North West’s prominent business leaders.
Alongside my day-to-day duties, I also have a leading role in Brother UK’s corporate responsibility and community engagement projects. These include a role in a Year 10 student mentoring programme at Copley Academy in Tameside and involvement with the Hallé Impresarios Project, a scheme which introduces students at Denton Community College, near Manchester, to classical music and how to run a business.
I continually invest in my own personal development and expand my horizons by flexing myself in all areas of the business to ensure I have a thorough knowledge of the organisation, including the induction of new people. This gives me an insight of how it feels to be new to the business and allows me to demonstrate our company values.
I am an active member of the Manchester PA Network and the CityCo PA Network as I love to promote our profession. I also encourage colleagues to attend, to grow their network and confidence.
My attendance of Office Show is a key event in my diary each year and in 2014 I was proud to be announced as a runner-up in the PA Contributor of the Year award on National PA Day.
My passion to promote the role drives me to coach and mentor key colleagues in my peer group, creating a strong sense of togetherness amongst the team. I share best practice and strive to be the best possible role model I can be. Recently I acquired an assistant who came to us as an apprentice. Sharing all my experience and knowledge with her and watching her grow has brought great mutual benefit.
Outside of work, I volunteer as Charity Secretary for the Convoy of Happiness Children’s Charity, which provides day trips to sick, disabled and terminally ill children and their families. I also manage the charity’s social media channels.
I have two daughters, two dogs and I live in Tameside.
Alicia Millar ǀ Reed Smith LLP
Alicia Millar is the EME Learning and Development Manager based in the Reed Smith London office. She joined the firm in April 2014 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where she was a manager in the global L&D team. Prior to this she worked as a Training Officer for Christie’s, the international auction house.
Alicia’s responsibilities in the London office include designing and delivering the firm’s Management Development Programme and Senior Associate Business Development programme; working as a business partner with practice group leaders to deliver bespoke development initiatives; and driving the firms programme of coaching. She also has responsibility for learning and people development in the Paris and Munich offices. Outside of L&D, Alicia is co-chair of PRISM, the Reed Smith LGBT forum, and she works closely with the leadership team of WINRS - the firm's women’s initiative.
Alicia has a BA Hons in Marketing and a diploma in International Business Management from Staffordshire University. She is a qualified MBTI® step I and II practitioner, and Firo-B®, she is also an EMCC certified coach.